St. John's transit system to get upgrade

St. John's is getting nearly $7 million from the federal government for much-needed improvements to Metrobus, the city's public transit system.

Avalon MP Fabian Manning announced Friday that $6.9 million will be spent knocking down the old Metrobus terminal and building a new one, as well asreplacing five old buses.

Metrobus is one of the most efficiently runoperations in the country, said Tom Hann, the head of the St. John's Transportation Commission, but the 50-year old terminal needs to be replaced.

"It's outgrown its use. It's outgrown industry standards. It's outgrown its efficiencies," he said.

Metrobus general manager Judy Powell said the new terminal will be bigger and more energy efficient.

She said Metrobus is searching for a more central location that can better serve St. John's and Mount Pearl, and perhaps the nearby communities of Conception Bay South and Paradise in the future.

"Those municipalities have been studying public transit, and we're certainly willing to work with those communities and become a regional service in the future," she said.

The west coast city of Corner Brook received $700,000 to build bicycle lanes.